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Topic Review (Newest First)

07-30-2004 07:15 PM

SteveF

Guys,

Tie it! Fishi it! Modify it! But most of all enjoy it! . The learning and experimenting are the best part and the most fun. CSJ60 - good looking ties, but remember in the water they will look the same as in the vise. Thanks for trying the tie out and nice job indeed. I too am interested in the materials you used.

Paxton, post em up or email a photo to me. I'd love to see them. 4 - 5 inches is what I use from the beach.

Juro - thanks again.

John - I see birthday wishes are in order - happy belated birthday. I particularly enjoyed the photo of you and your daughter. There's no better way to pass it on - memories!

SteveF

07-30-2004 05:33 PM

striblue

Craig.... What are the materials for those Squid....

07-30-2004 03:50 PM

juro

Craig - oh man you KNOW those puppies are going to do the deed!

Steve - this is a truly great squid pattern KUDOS!

07-29-2004 06:47 PM

CSJ60

Here is my attempt... I did not have all the materials so I improvised.

07-26-2004 01:42 AM

mattzoid

Juro,

I do agree, I'm just not sure off the beach. Seems like it would be ideal for Chinook in the 30 foot arena as we discussed in another thread. So many flies I have to tie. Skaters, low water, lead assed and now a new squid version. Going to have to quit fishing just to get something done on the bench....yeah right.

07-25-2004 11:44 PM

striblue

When you get a chance.....check out some of Steve's other work. On the Forums he has indicated. There are tyers... and then... there are tyers!

07-25-2004 06:24 PM

juro

Steve -

Those big tube squids are insane!! Those will turn the big cow's heads in the surf.

Matt -

The tube version seems perfect for coho in the appropriate sizes, do you agree?

07-25-2004 05:22 PM

Paxton

Steve..........that is a great loking fly! Thanks for the directions. Tied up four this morning and for a first attmept they look pretty good. Great link as well. Thanks for sharing the recipe! Will try them on an upcoming Rip Trip at South Monomoy Island on Tuesday. Didn't know what length to use there but settled on 4 to 5 inches.
Ron

07-25-2004 03:39 PM

mattzoid

Thanks for the info Steve. The squid pic is not mine. It was taken by Chris West who runs a great site out here called pugetsoundflyfishing. This is what is so great about fly fishing online, the collaboration of ideas that span the globe.

07-25-2004 03:19 PM

SteveF

Matt,

I don't know about salmon or steelhead as I have never fished for them. I believe placement does matter as bass consistently take "head shots" whereas bluefish snap at the tail and munch their way up or at least it seems that way much of the time. I havn't fished tuna but guys I know say they go right for the eye on squid.

That is a great squid photo Matt.

Here's a photo of the squid prototypes done as a tube fly just for reference. The last section of tube(just plain tubing) let's you either snug the hook to the eye or put it outboard in the tentacle area. The pink one is just over 7 inches and the white on just over 14 inches but not yet rigged with a hook. The large one is done as a bucktail hollow fleye on two tube sections with the eyes/tentacles on a third.

Juro, your squid look super and must have a lot of movement. The Atlantis sounds like a real launcher. Good luck with the big flies and thanks for the welcome.

Stripers bite the head of any fly. You could tie a 12" long fly with a 1" long hook at the head and the fish will be on when you set the hook.

Like you I am pretty familiar with flyfishing for ocean coho (since the mid-80's) and agree completely that the hook needs to be in the mid-to-rear half of the fly for consistent hookups because of the way they hit the flanks of the prey.

Here is a similar squid pattern I posted a few years ago in the archives. It uses a tube fly tube instead of the stiff nylon. The pic is low res but you can see the big SW hook at the head of the squid, maybe 1/6 - 1/8 the length of the fly. There are a few variations in the image including one that is veiled over the body ironically as Steve does, it's a great effect.

The fish still get hooked with these short hooks even though these squid flies are 5-6 inches long.

I am now developing a series of VERY large flies to cast on 600+ grain heads which feel comfortable to cast all day with the Atlantis Surf-tamer, including a large squid. Should be 'deployed' by the fall migration.

Steve, I will definitely have some of your squid flies tied to about 6" in this selection, thanks for posting!

07-24-2004 10:44 AM

mattzoid

Steve,

That is a great looking tie and thanks for the link too. Here in the Pacific Northwest, some of us were goofing around with patterns like this trying to raise a strike out of Steelhead. Our thinking was that they were still conditioned to at least strike even in fresh water. There are also a lot of patterns for Salmon, but I have to tell you, the dimensions on your fly are perfect. Form and shape are exactly what they are supposed to be like as in the squid pic I've attached.

One question about hook placement and really this is for anyone. It looks like strippers will bite into the body and not the tentacles. Is this typical of most fish? I had thought that Salmon and Steelhead were tail biters and so some of my attempts at Squid placed a trailing hook in the tentacle section.

Steve, the mantle of the lighter squid is DNA flash and DNA powder blended with DNA flash. The orange one is a blend of angel hair, slinky fibre, and DNA powder. In addition, I've tried bucktail, unique hair and a blend of angel hair/slinky fibre. They all look and perform well so you should experiment with different naturals and synthetics. Anyone wanting larger squid or simply wanting the hook placement exactly at the eye should construct it on a tube.

Moose, they are not for sale but I'd be glad to walk you through any questions you may have after you've viewed the instructions.

SteveF

07-24-2004 07:49 AM

Moose

Is there someplace a guy could buy a few of these gems?

07-24-2004 12:11 AM

Slinger

Gorgeous, simply gorgeous. Is the mantle angelhair?
Slinger

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